CHAPTER 275: CHAPTER 127: CONTINENT’S DUAL TREASURES

Unbeknownst to them, the sky outside had already darkened, and Yue Jinghua had been chatting with the people from Yunhu Commerce in the small cottage of the Outer Court for a full eight hours.

Teng Wu described the whole sequence of events in detail, which was much clearer than the description given by the Compass in the prison. Yue Jinghua roughly had an outline of the whole incident in her mind.

The reason Yunhu Commerce purchased this batch of Dark Eggs was for the use of the Dark Beast Cavalry of the Dragon War Empire. Unlike the Shang Kingdom, where Dark Beasts are very rare, they are virtually everywhere in the Dragon War Empire.

The numerous Dark Beasts are not only related to the valiant and war-like nature of the people of the Dragon War Empire, but also because there is an unbroken range of Xuan Beast Ridges extending for thousands of miles on the periphery of the Empire. The last disappearance of the Dark Beast Eggs occurred within this mountain range.

Because of the aforementioned reasons, almost every household in Wo Hua Imperial City raises Dark Beasts, from Dark Beasts as mounts to Guardian Pets, as common as cats and dogs are in modern times.

"I see that Miss Shalman is also a Cultivator, why don’t we work together to help explain the differences between ordinary house-raised Dark Beasts, mounts, and even Guardian Pets," Teng Wu had encountered Dark Beasts several times at Yunhu Commerce, so he had some research on breeding Dark Beasts. Seeing that Shalman’s Five Elements Colored Spider was quite unique, he also had the intention to test her.

Shalman also rarely had the chance to meet someone other than Vice-President Xue Diaoshang who understood breeding, so she was naturally very willing to discuss this topic with Teng Wu.

"May I ask Miss Shalman, what is a house-raised Dark Beast?" Knowing that Yue Jinghua and his own young lady were not very knowledgeable in this area, Teng Wu simply started from the most basic knowledge of Dark Beasts.

Shalman answered excitedly like a student preparing for an exam, "House-raised Dark Beasts generally refer to those that are directly hatched and then sold. They are trained into ordinary house beasts during their juvenile period. These Dark Beasts are mostly common low-level ones like cats, dogs, rabbits, etc. They have low attack power and a docile nature. House-raised Dark Beasts are sold in ordinary Xuan Beast Stores, they are not wary of strangers, their loyalty is not high, and they can be easily tamed by others."

"Then, what’s the difference between Guardian Pets and mounts compared to normal house-raised Dark Beasts?" Teng Wu was quite satisfied with Shalman’s answer.

"The difference is significant. As I mentioned before, ordinary house-raised Dark Beasts are already hatched juveniles by the time they are sold in stores. They’ve seen many buyers in the store and don’t have much loyalty. In addition, house-raised Dark Beasts are bred in large numbers; a batch might have a survival rate reaching hundreds, which means from a rarity perspective, their value is greatly reduced. However, mounts and Guardian Pets require extremely high loyalty. Therefore, they must be in the hands of their owners while still in the egg. This ensures that when the Dark Beasts hatch, the first thing they see is their owner, avoiding interference from anyone other than the owner. Those who can afford it can even use their own Essence Blood to hatch the Dark Beast, ensuring the beast will never betray them in its lifetime," Shalman explained, and this time even the capricious young lady nodded in satisfaction.

"Two more points, mounts are best chosen from fierce Dark Beasts that excel in running or flying, while Guardian Pets should be chosen from fierce beasts that are good at attacking. Both are best in their wild state, or semi-free range," Shalman added two more points.

"Regarding Dark Beasts and Dark Beast Eggs, it’s generally as Miss Shalman has explained. Most of the house-raised Dark Beast Eggs in the Dragon War Empire are bred and hatched by Cultivators from our own Empire, but these are the lowest-level Dark Beasts. Mid to high-level Dark Beasts, especially those that serve as mounts for Dragon Battle Knights and Dark Beasts of the Royal Guard, can only be obtained by collecting some wild Dark Beast Eggs and hatching them with a Dark Array. This batch of Dark Beast Eggs is a set of wild eggs, a batch that the commerce erroneously evaluated, " Teng Wu lamented, in reality, if the commerce had known that among this batch of Dark Beast Eggs there was an egg that could hatch a dragon, they would never have so rashly handed over the transportation task to an unknown Mercenary Team.

"So it seems we must first reach the Xuan Beast Ridge outside of the Dragon War Empire and then look for related clues," Shalman had never left the Shang Kingdom since she was small, and now hearing that she could leave the Shang Kingdom, she couldn’t hide her excitement.

"Not quite, before that, we need to find that Mercenary Team and inquire about what happened before the Dark Beast Eggs were damaged," Teng Wu had already inquired that the captain of that Mercenary Team had been imprisoned in the large jail of the Shang Kingdom.

"No need, I’m already aware of the situation, and there is something I need to make clear in advance," Yue Jinghua coughed once, "In fact, just a few days ago, I happened to become the deputy team leader of this small squad, temporarily taking over all affairs in place of the leader."

"..." Inside the cabin, there was a moment of brief silence.

As night fell like water, inside the small dwelling of the Outer Court, where silhouettes still flickered, an unknown danger approached quietly like the nightfall, nearing the carriage parked on the official road of Polo City, waiting for Yue Jinghua and the others.

Lie Rou was sitting in the carriage, occasionally lifting the carriage curtains to look outside; inside, Yue Chen had already fallen asleep.

Hongling stood on a nearby tree, gazing into the distance. The lady had said she would return after dark, and now two hours had passed since nightfall, causing Hongling to feel some unease.

"Why hasn’t Huahua returned yet," after the events at Lie Family Mansion, Lie Rou had wanted to have a private conversation with her daughter several times but hadn’t found a suitable opportunity, "Hongling, would you go to Xuanji Academy and see if something has happened?"

After hearing Lie Rou’s instructions, Hongling was initially reluctant to comply; the lady had ordered her to stay with the Lady and Young Master Yue Chen.

"Go ahead, Xuanji Academy isn’t far from here, and even at night, the official road is bustling with people coming and going; there’s no need to worry about accidents," Lie Rou said softly, convincing her.

After some thought, considering that the lady had left the Gold Eater Worm and the Flash Mink Leopard nearby to keep watch, Hongling decided that even if there was any movement, there would be support. Thus, she swiftly made her way towards Xuanji Academy.

Another half-hour passed, and still, there was no sign of activity outside the carriage.

Having gone through much in the past few days, Lie Rou’s mind was in disarray, leaving her completely sleepless for a while; she casually pulled back the carriage curtain, leaned against the cold carriage shaft, and thought about the various events of the day.

The orange moon was full outside the window, and from the grass in the forest came the chirping of small insects.

"Sss sss," engrossed in thought, Lie Rou sensed some noise outside the carriage.

Even though Lie Rou was not versed in Dark Skill, ever since she had received the Nine Turtle Technique from her daughter Yue Jinghua, she had been practicing diligently every day. Unbeknownst to her, both her vision and hearing had improved considerably. She faintly noticed a shadow flitting through the grass and grew suspicious.

Glancing at Yue Chen, who was already asleep, Lie Rou reached into the carriage’s bundle to feel around and pulled out a dagger to bolster her courage, tucking it into her sleeve before cautiously stepping off the carriage.